Friendly Advice
by AmoDomus
Summary: Hodgins asks Booth's advice on a very delicate subject. AngelaHodgins and BoothBrennan


Hello all! This is definatly not what I was planning on posting next, but one of those darn plot bunnies attacked me during one of my endless 'Wouldn't this be cool if this happened in season two?' conversations. So this random piece of fluff is the result, and I hope everyone enjoys. If I owned anything, Booth would be locked in my room without a shirt, and Zach would be doing my homework.

BB

The lab was eerily quiet as Special Agent Seeley Booth walked up to the platform where his favorite (and only) team of squints normally resided round the clock. It never was a loud, obnoxious place, unless Hodgins happened to have one too many drinks and conspiracy articles, but now there wasn't even the typical hushed voice of Zach or Brennan, Angela's laugh, or Hodgins sarcastic banter to fill in the sterilized air. To say it was unnerving was an understatement.

His footsteps echoed off the tile as he looked around someone who could point him in the direction of a squint or two. Turning around to roam the hallways a bit, he let out a yell as he almost ran headfirst into a mass of curly hair and blue lap coat. Jack Hodgins matched his yell with one of his own, stumbling backwards momentarily before catching Booth's arm for support. "Don't _yell _like that, man, you'll give someone a heart attack."

"Well, if you would give some warning before you sneak up on me like that…" Booth snapped, shaking Hodgins off his arm. "Better be glad I couldn't get to my gun, or I would have shot your head off."

"Better be glad I wasn't a bad guy, or your head would already be gone." Hodgins shot back with a grin, ignoring Booth's glare. "What do they teach you in that Ranger training anyway?"

"Plenty of methods of painful torture." Hodgins' grin faded slightly when Booth's voice didn't falter, and he stepped back a couple of steps. The stared at each other for a moment before Booth broke the still-unnerving silence. "So, where's the squint squad today? I've never seen it this quiet in here."

"Brennan's locked in her office typing up some reports. She's forbidden us to bother her or let anyone else bother her, because she's way behind. I think that includes you." Booth's snort was ignored as Hodgins' continued. "Zach has gone to do some research in the library downstairs, mostly to get out of here. Ange has wandered off some place outside to finish sketches. She needed fresh air. So I was alone, at least until you walked in. What exactly are you doing here? Because if it's a new case, Dr. Brennan may just bite your head off."

"Not a new one, I just need some signatures on old ones and figured I'd come here to get them myself." Hodgins eyebrows raised in a gesture of amusement, but Booth ignored it. "Do you really thing she'd hurt me if I tried to go in there now?"

"Definatly, man, she's dangerous right now."

Booth looked at the closed door of Brennan's office, weighing his options. "Well, I didn't come here just to be sent away again. I mean, I'm her partner, surely that will negate some of the urge to kill me in cold blood…"

Hodgins shrugged. "Whatever, man. Angela actually asked if she'd let you in if you came. All she got back is a glare, so use your investigative skills to work that one out."

Booth groaned, going over all the ways in his mind Angela could have asked whether he could come in. None of them played to Bones being in a better mood. "Maybe I should give her more time…I may go get some lunch and come back…"

"Good idea. If you're feeling brave you can bring her back some take out." Booth nodded, and with one last look at the closed door headed toward the exit. Hodgins watched him for a moment before following. "Hey, man, if you have a second, could I ask you something?"

Stopping slowly, the FBI agent raised his eyes skyward and uttered a quick prayer for patience. Turning to face the scientist, he leveled his voice into a very no-nonsense growl. "I've told you before, Hodgins, if I knew of any conspiracies within our government, I could not and would not get you the files on them."

Hodgins rolled his eyes. "It's not about that, though that would be a pleasant surprise. Birthday present, maybe?" The glare that answered him wiped the smirk from his face, and suddenly he looked very sheepish. "It's actually more about…I need some advice…on women."

The glare on Booth's face was replaced with shock, and more than a little amusement. "You know that if this is anything like Zach's questions I wouldn't hesitate to shoot you, either."

Hodgins turned red, but smiled slightly. "Nah, dude, I got that aspect handled." Taking a deep breath, he continued in a slightly shakier voice. "This is more of a specific woman. I can't quite figure out what to do with her."

Booth laughed. "I don't know what to do with any of them, so I think you came to the wrong person."

"You're the only one I could think of, man, other than Zach, and, I mean, come on." Hodgins looked more flustered as he continued talking, and he glanced around in an almost paranoid manner. "I mean, I've got lines, and I can pick a woman up from a bar no problem, but this one….I don't want it to be just a one-nighter, you know?"

Booth's smirk slowly slid off his face as he took in the other man's discomfort. With an unconscious glance at the still-closed office door, he sighed. "Yeah, I know. You've got it bad, don't you?"

Hodgins followed the agent's gaze to the door and smirked in spite of himself. "I'm not the only one."

Snapping his head back to the man in front of him, Booth scowled. "Listen, this isn't about me, and even if it was…"

"You're just partners, friends, professionals, yadda yadda yadda. We've heard it before." Hodgins shook his head. "I'm sorry, man, but I saw you two in that warehouse. That was more than friendship in there. If Zach were kidnapped I'd be happy he was alright and all, but I wouldn't be holding him for dear life. He'd get a man-hug at best."

Making sure he didn't look in either direction, he maintained the exasperated tone in his voice. "Listen, do you want help or not? This isn't about me or Brennan. We work together."

"Work relationships…they sometimes work out, though, don't they?" The sudden change of tone caused Booth to do a double take, and the look on the scientist's face caused a sudden realization.

"Hodgins…are you telling me…it's Angela, isn't it?" The name caused such a fierce reaction that there was little doubt as to its validity. Looking around wildly, Hodgins grabbed Booth's arm and led him across the lab and further away from the entrance way.

The ended up over by Hodgins' work area, far from the door, and any dangerous office spaces. Looking around one more time for the sake of paranoia, Hodgins dropped his voice to a near-whisper. "Don't go spreading it around or anything, ok? I mean, it's probably just a crush or something, but I need to know how to handle it."

"Sounds like more than a crush to me." The defeated look on Hodgins' face indicated that he agreed. "Have you…talked to her about this at all?"

"No!" The refusal was quick and explosive in the still-silent lab. Lowering his voice at bit, Hodgins continued. "I don't think anything can actually happen…we do work together, and if I tell her things could get really awkward."

Booth felt a wave of pity for the other man, and tried to push his thoughts away to his own 'just a crush' behind a locked door only yards away. "Why are you so sure she'll reject you? It could turn into something, you know."

Hodgins looked up, disbelief and sadness shining from his eyes. "I'm the bug guy. Bug and slime. She's….perfect. She's beautiful, smart, talented, and could have any guy in the world. She's not going to be happy with a neurotic conspiracy-spouting scientist who spends all of his time elbow-deep in gunk."

"I've never thought of Angela as that shallow." Hodgins knit his brows together in a look of confusion, forcing a very awkward Booth to continue the thought. "I don't think she _wants _a typical studmuffin sort of guy. You are a good man, Hodgins, and because I am a straight male I'm not going to go further than that. It would just be weird."

"That's greatly appreciated, man. We have to work together too, you know." Booth rolled his eyes at the smirk on Hodgins face and their expressions became somber. "But, seriously, do you even think I have a shot at her?"

The Special Agent sighed and looked toward the dark office in which Angela usually resided. "I really think you should at least talk to her about it…you know Angela is a hopeless romantic. Do something that will make her absolutely melt. Then, even if by some chance she doesn't feel that way about you, at least she'll know that you weren't just trying to get her into bed."

Hodgins sat on the rolling chair beside him, staring at some plant sample intensely. "That still leaves the entire 'if she feels the same way about you' sentence in there."

"If I tell you that she'll run into your arms and never leave, that leaves me open for a possible pounding later on down the line. All I'm saying is not to let the opportunity pass you by. Angela did it once, and regrets it to this day. I….." Booth's voice trailed off, but both men knew the subject of the end of the sentence.

Hodgins mused in silence for a moment, leaving Booth to ponder what exactly was passing him by. When the scientist finally did speak, it was soft and decisive. "You're right, man. You're right. I have to…I have to try."

"Good for you." Booth meant every word, wishing he could get up the courage to do the same. "How are you going to sweep her off her feet?"

"With this." Smiling softly, Hodgins reached into a drawer, pulling out several books with titles like _Insects and Human Life _and _Nonvascular Plants : An Evolutionary Survey. _

"Umm, Angela's a smart girl and all, but squinty textbooks probably aren't going to get you as many brownie points as your hoping for."

"No kidding." Hodgins rolled his eyes. "And I was hoping to get her _The Taxonomy of Plants _for Christmas. No, the real treasure is here." Unloading a couple more heavy books from the drawer, he pulled out what appeared to be a wooden picture frame, laying it carefully out on the table. "So what do you think?"

Inside the frame was indeed a picture, but it was unlike anything Booth had ever seen. It was of Angela, obviously taken at some black-tie museum affair that most squints hated. She seemed to be enjoying herself though, leaning against a balcony railing wither her hair blowing free over her bare shoulders, red strapless dress skimming the ground. The remarkable thing about the picture was that it wasn't a photograph – more of an etching into glass. The colors were made up of what looked like paper-thin gemstones, providing the proper hue but allowing light to shimmer through the picture. The effect was magical, and made Angela look positively angelic.

"I think you may have found a winner there, Hodgins." Booth breathed, picking the frame up carefully to hold it to the light.

"You really think she'll like it?"

Setting the picture carefully back on the desk, Booth looked Hodgins in the eye. "She's an artist. This…this will make her melt."

The smile Hodgins gave him back was genuine, and he picked up the frame to set it carefully back into the drawer. "Thanks, man. For everything. I do wish you'd take your own advice though. I'd hate to see Angela implode before I get the chance to tell her everything."

Booth looked back for the thousandth time across the lab. "I wish I could…I just don't think it would work."

It was Hodgins' turn to level Booth with a calculating gaze. "You have a better chance of having your feelings replicated than I do, I'm afraid. I don't know much about women and their emotions, but come on. She's had a thing for you since you first walked in that door."

Lowering himself into a rolling chair on the other side of the table, Booth leaning against the desk, eyebrows knitted in thought. "I wish I knew that for sure…she's just…I don't get her. Sometimes I think she may feel the same way, but others…"

"Her feeling the same way isn't an issue, man. I've known Brennan since she came here, and you've changed her." Booth lifted his head to look at Hodgins, his eyes brightening slightly. "In a good way, trust me. You gave her an opportunity to do things and be a person that she only imagined."

"For a squint, you're pretty good at the whole dealing with people thing." Booth grinned. "I wish you the best of luck with Angela, seriously. Bones and I….that'll have to come in time."

"What did you tell me about not letting opportunities pass you by? Brennan will find someone else if you don't take the chance." Booth's grin faded. "I'm just saying to do the same thing I will. Try it, alright? If she breaks your arm I'll pay for the medical bills."

The agent's smile appeared again, but smaller and more nervous. "She breaks my arm and you'll have your own medical bills to be paying for. I just hope she won't shut me out completely if I say anything."

"Honestly, I think your one of the few people she'd never shut out." The two men stood, rolling the chairs away. "Let's do it together. That way, if they break our hearts we can go out and get wasted, and if they break our arms at least we can share a hospital room."

"Who's breaking hearts and arms?" A new voice entered the conversation, and both men whirled around, startled. Angela stood at the top of the stairs, smiling mischievously down at them. "Bren tried her hand at a single's bar or something? Or does it have something to do with my favorite G-man down there?"

"Nice to see you two, Ange." Booth called up, avoiding the question at all costs. "Actually, I need to go see Bones and get back to my actual job at the FBI, so I need to get going." Lowering his voice, he turned to Hodgins. "Now or never. Good luck, man."

"Right back at ya." Hodgins smirked, looking nervous in spite of himself. As Booth turned to walk away, he heard the bug guy call up to the artist above him. "Hey, Angela, got a minute? I really need to talk to you about something."

Yeah, Booth had some talking to do too.

BB

And done. I will very probably write more with an actual conclusion to this, but when is another story. It all is hinging on the plot bunnies, really, and whether or not they let me finish the other fic I'mworking on. Yeah, reality plays a part too unfortunatly...anyway, reviews are love, so leave them.


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